Ross, you keep ignoring the folks suggestion the Donnay F100.
Seriously, just get one. I promise you its exactly what you are
looking for.

Lol, jackb1, if he does demo them with he right string set up, we both know which he will decide to go with, formula beats the original APD hands down. Just doesn't feel as solid cause of the lower flex feeling but gets the job done.

Would love to try the Formula, but wonder if Donnay will be around for a while. Would hate to love it, but not be able to get any grommets for it down the road.

I've never had a racquet long enough to need new grommets...lol.
But I can't believe that would be a consideration anyway. The Formula 100 is a best seller and you could pick up some spare grommet sets now if u try it and really like the racquet. How long do grommets usually take to wear out anyway? I have had a few racquets for around 2 years and the grommets are still fine.

__________________
to see what I'm up to lately:
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=499860

From my experience, I would say prince rebel 98 with some added weight.
Used to play babs but switched cause of the stiffness and soreness.
So far it's magic. There was about a three week adjustment period, but glad I stuck it out.

Okay, I've done my research now, the positive comparisons/similarities to the Pro Open, PD, 100S are too eye-catching, and I can safely say the Formula 100 is a frame I'd definitely like to test out... if I can get it in the UK, that is...

Muzza,

That's funny because all 3 of the frames you've name-checked have appealed to me and I've been interested in before. If you don't mind, could you pass a few brief comments on how these all match up IYO, like most powerful, best feel, best spin, etc. Thx

The Formula 100 has always been the obvious choice to check out. I think you'll like it.

400 Tour will prob need some lead in the hoop. Its a little more control oriented & less powerful off the ground than the APDGT but hits a very spinny ball that just might fit your described game. Serve is not any more powerful than the APDGT but just seems easier & effortless. The feel is quite different from the Babs.

XV1 MP - I really liked this frame, has all the characteristics of the PD that I like. A touch less power but more spin on serve, and is actually arm friendly. Hits at a lower trajectory (just like the 100s) than the Babs for me.

100s - I got one demo that was strung tightly with a multi and it actually felt harsh. The TW vibration frequency chart places it above the APDGT as well. The second demo I got had loose multi strings and felt pretty soft.

BB London - great feel, tons of spin, but is lower powered on groundstrokes and serves.

Exo Tour 18x20 - hits a loopy ball for me with massive spin, good control and power when swung fast, good on volleys. Wasn't too impressive on serve speed.

Juice 100 - I mentioned this in the past. It feels and looks more like a 102sq in head size. With volkl cyclone in it and lead in the hoop, it had so much power, spin, and hit such a heavy penetrating ball it almost felt like cheating. I'd say I felt a bit less control compared to a PD. It might be too stiff for you though.

Pro Open - plays like a lighter, flexier, lower powered, and slightly better feeling version of the APDGT.

Well... as I said re the Vantage BC30 above ^, that frame killed my arm and I think that was in the 50s RA. Still, even if the odd anomalies exist, how else can we get at least a general idea of racket stiffness?

The stiffness numbers will give you a general idea on the stiffness of a racket but will not accurately or reliably tell you if one frame is arm-friendlier than another. According to various posters, there are frames, other than the one you mentioned, that have an RA in the 50s and yet are very stressful to the arm. Likewise, there are frames that are close to 70 RA there are much kinder/gentler to the arm than frames with lower stifness numbers.

There is no guarantee that a racket with a flex of 60 is going to be better for your arm than one that has a flex of 68. The flex/stiffness ratings do not tell you how much frame shock is delivered to the arm. The flex ratings do not relect the effect of shock-damping technologies built into racquet frames.

The damping technology built into most modern Volkl (and Boris Becker) rackets is much better that most other rackets. However, it appears that the damping in the Volkl V1 Classic is even better than the newer offerings from Volkl. Some Prince frames worth considering:

Instead of putting a lot of stock into flex ratings, take a look at the Comfort scores in the TW racket reviews. Generally, anything higher than 80 tends to be kind/gentle on the arm. Couple this score with feedback from users. These should provide a better indicator than flex ratings. Some decent additional info about flex/stiffness ratings in this thread (also see page 2):

The stiffness numbers will give you a general idea on the stiffness of a racket but will not accurately or reliably tell you if one frame is arm-friendlier than another. According to various posters, there are frames, other than the one you mentioned, that have an RA in the 50s and yet are very stressful to the arm. Likewise, there are frames that are close to 70 RA there are much kinder/gentler to the arm than frames with lower stifness numbers.

There is no guarantee that a racket with a flex of 60 is going to be better for your arm than one that has a flex of 68. The flex/stiffness ratings do not tell you how much frame shock is delivered to the arm. The flex ratings do not relect the effect of shock-damping technologies built into racquet frames.

The damping technology built into most modern Volkl (and Boris Becker) rackets is much better that most other rackets. However, it appears that the damping in the Volkl V1 Classic is even better than the newer offerings from Volkl. Some Prince frames worth considering:

Instead of putting a lot of stock into flex ratings, take a look at the Comfort scores in the TW racket reviews. Generally, anything higher than 80 tends to be kind/gentle on the arm. Couple this score with feedback from users. These should provide a better indicator than flex ratings. Some decent additional info about flex/stiffness ratings in this thread (also see page 2):

I don't know how much it will help, but the Comfort Hybrid grip on the Wilson Juice 108 might make it a bit easier on the arm than the 100 or Pro versions of the Juice. You might add some lead tape to make it a bit heavier and subdue the frame shock even more.

Here is an interesting piece on flex/stiffness ratings Tennis Express:

Flex: While flex sounds like it should be an easy to understand, it is slightly more complicated than the simple number that we or anyone else lists for flex. The unfortunate truth is that given current testing equipment designed for use on racquets, the flex is only measured at one point along the length of the racquet, that being the throat. While this can give a rough estimate for some frames, it does a disservice because many of the material compositions of frames today alter the stiffness based on the location along the racquet to serve specific purposes. A famous example of this would be tapered beam sections of the Wilson Hammer line of racquets. By making the beam width thinner in the throat area, it offered a softer flex when measured, but the much thicker hoop area of the frame was also significantly stiffer, which could not be easily measured. As expected, the stiffer a frame is, the harsher it is on the arm.

This is for two reasons: shock and vibration. It is important to realize that these are different aspects and they affect the body in slightly different ways. Shock is most often associated with hitting off center, as an extremely harsh torque felt especially in the hand, wrist, and elbow. This also occurs on shots hit in the sweet spot, but the energy absorption and repulsion of the strings do mitigate some of the impact forces, so the feeling is not as severe. Vibration on the other hand, is the residual waves of frequency that radiate down the frame and into the arm. This is typically not felt by the player on the court, and will usually only result in soreness after the fact, but can be enough to also cause problems. Most often this vibration is the result of a frame being too light that it is not able to dampen the incoming frequency of waves, but can occurs in heavier frames as well. Interestingly, shock is typically associated with stiffer frames, while vibrational damage is more likely in more flexible frames. While the more flexible frame will typically dampen the amplitude, or strength of the wave, depending on the frequency, it can still cause major problems to a players arm.

For this reason, when it comes to flex, the idea is to look for something that is relatively low in flex, but as frames become more flexible they tend to lose some of their stability. This, in addition to various technologies designed to alleviate tennis elbow, makes it difficult to judge a frame based on only one isolated flex measurement. For this reason, we suggest that you do not take the flex rating as an “end all” searching solution, but instead focus on it as a piece to a much more complicated puzzle.